I am excited to announce Althea's first-ever brand product called the Althea Petal Velvet Powder. Yes, you guessed it right... it is inspired by Korean Althea Petals. This Petal Velvet Powder is a translucent and lightweight loose powder that offers the skin a silky smooth finish. It is made with pure and natural ingredients.

Althea Petal Velvet Powder | Petal Soft Skin

Althea's Petal Velvet Powder is made with micro-fine particles that minimize the appearance of pores and fine lines to reveal a flawless, petal-like complexion. It's translucent and perfecting qualities also create a satin finish that mattifies without dehydrating skin.

My daughter will turn five years old in a few days. It seems like only yesterday when I witnessed so many firsts in her life. I can still vividly remember the first time she uttered the word " ma-ma", when she took her first step, and also her first birthday celebration.

As a first time mom, I also remember all the struggles I faced especially in dealing with cleaning her poo, potty training, and cleaning her ears. Oh, how can I forget all those so-called "mishaps" I encountered!

Cooking is not really my passion. Honestly, I do it out of necessity because I need to feed my family : p For more than a year, I was able to get out of the "cooking situation" by ordering tiap chay- a daily home cooked food delivery service. That worked until recently, when our palates grew tired of the limited number of food choices the food provider has to offer.

That's when I became inspired to go back to cooking. It also helped that I have a reliable helper right now who can dice, chop and basically do whatever she's told to do in the kitchen. Going back to cooking for my family now meant not only just feeding them but serving them healthy and nutritious meals starting with the use of Grande Rice Bran Oil- a cooking oil that let's you fry, sear, saute, or even just to drizzle over salad as a dressing without the guilty feeling.

Grande Rice Bran | A Nature's Gift

Known as "the Olive Oil of the East", Grande Rice Bran is extracted from the middle layer of the husk wherein the grain is rich in natural antioxidants such as Vitamin E, phytosterols, and Gamma-oryzanol. Using the finest extraction and physical refinement processes of Grande, it was able to produce one of the healthiest oils in the world that you can use to fry, sear, saute without worrying that what you are digesting is too oily and unhealthy for you. You can even use it as a healthy salad dressing and base for baking.

"Change is coming!" These are the very powerful words that won the Philippine presidency for Rodrigo Duterte. These are also the words of encouragement that come into my mind when I get frustrated standing in line whenever I am in different government agencies. The question is, when can Filipinos see and feel the change?

Take the case of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), would you believe that we are one of the few countries left that manually process vehicle registration? Yes, it is true and it sucks!

We are still living in an old system that allegedly breeds corruption within the agency. Imagine having to deal with alleged "fixers" just to avoid long lines. Otherwise, applicants might be spending the next few days going back and forth to process their car registration. Mind you, the problem does not end there, applicants still have to undergo stenciling and emission testing, among others, annually.

LTO | Online Car Registration

Thankfully, a group of NGOs, Filipino Alliance for Transparency and Empowerment (FATE), United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC), and Badass Elite/Arouser Elite Club, with the help of Senator JV Ejercito, is now seeking to end the woes of the Filipino people by pushing for an online car registration to improve the system, eradicate corruption and overall, improve the services of the LTO. It will still be a long stretch to fully modernized the whole agency but it will be a start.

Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito | Senate Resolution No. 392

Urging the Department of Transportation through the Land Transportation Office to conduct a study for the establishment and implementation of an online registration process for motor vehicles with the end in view of providing effective and efficient public service for a progressive land transport sector.

What I LIKE about the proposed Online Car Registration:

Promote transparency within the agency

Simplified registration process

Swift transaction

Progress is impossible without CHANGE | by George Bernard Shaw

Being a full time homemaker, I dread the time wasted waiting in long lines when I could have done more productive things. I really hope that this proposed Senate Resolution will push through for the modernization of the Land Transportation Office.

What are your thoughts/inputs about the modernization of agency? Share them at the comment section below.

About Me

Michelle Martinez is a hands-on mom to her little princess. She finds time to blog when her little love is taking a nap.
She is passionate about sharing her good finds here and around the world.
She wants her cheery disposition to rub off on her daughter when she grows up.